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Mistress of the Vatican The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini The Secret Female Pope Eleanor Herman Books

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Mistress of the Vatican The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini The Secret Female Pope Eleanor Herman Books

Were it not for what I see as very good research and primary source analysis, this book would have received 1 star. The facts themselves are interesting, but the writing of this book reads like C+ 8th grade history report. The author resorts to the lowest denominator of writing to such an extent that, though I found the actual material fascinating, I had a terribly hard time finishing this book. Add to that the Kindle edition's editing problems: it reports the dates of everything that the author says happened during the Roman Empire as having happened in the year 86 A.D, which, for a book purporting to be about history is egregious, to say the least.


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Mistress of the Vatican The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini The Secret Female Pope Eleanor Herman Books Reviews

What an interesting, obviously well researched and completely little-known piece of history! I'm a little stunned at the depth of nepotism, greed, embezzlement and flat out stealing in regard to the office of pope, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The story itself is pretty incredible, however, when one considers the "place" women held in the 17th century and that Olimpia managed to not only run the Vatican but control its wheeling & dealing as well!
This is a true story I doubt you'll ever learn in Sunday School, history class or on the History Channel. Eleanor has written a very well documented, well written and interesting book. Authors like her do a great service to the public by bringing important history from academia to the rest of us. Commercial books also have the freedom to give perspective and interpretation that is frankly forbidden in academia. Thank you, Eleanor, for a great book. Fascinating and also disconcerting history. And how you wrote about her death was very moving.
Olimpia Maidalchini is a unique personality who has faded into the background. Eleanor Herman beautifully exposes how powerful Olimpia became and how she managed to claw her way to power all by herself. People who want to read about strong women in history should for sure read this book! It is superbly researched and very easy to read. I always love reading about parts of history that are skipped over and this perfectly fits the bill. Any history fan will truly enjoy sitting down with this book.
Being a lover of history, fiction, and every combination thereof, I adored this book, not for its clever turn of phrase or its grandiose exultation of exaggerated happenings, but for the simple fact that the woman this book is based around was truly capable of such power, cunning, and success within a deeply misogynistic, religious world. Olympia rose from such obscure beginnings and unlucky prospects with only her wit and drive to leave off the leashes of the men in her life that she ended up controlling the most powerful man in the world and the nation he reigned. I loved this book. Racing through the pages, I never became bored or fatigued of the plot at all, but to give the most comprehensive review, I'll list the Pros and Cons.

Cons

- The story is very detailed, and while I enjoyed that immensely, others may find the wealth of tiny details and various names and families a bit confusing to follow at times. When I was forced to stop reading for a while and came back, I'll admit that trying to remember all the tiny details and characters was difficult when trying to pull myself back into the narrative. If you are looking for a quick read or a lighter story to pass the time, then this is not the boom for you.

Pros

- Those same details, while plentiful to recall, provide a very rich atmosphere and background for the story taking place. Vivid descriptions and comprehensive lists of items, names, places, and of the surrounding nations keeps the reader very invested in the tale that is sometimes lost in historical collections such as Victoria Martinez and Michael Farquhar. Instead, Herman dives into the time and setting for her figures, much like her other book Sex With The Queens, another favorite of mine.

- The main character Olimpia, while in many cases may seem to act truly selfishly and cruelly to others in her schemes, plans, and act of revenge, she is, overall, an easily understood woman whose main goal in life is to be free from the controlling intrigues of the men in her life. Almost forced into a convent as a teen by her greedy, cheap father who didn't want to pay the standard exorbitant dowry fit for a girl of her station, Olimpia used her cunning and a well-crafted letter to a high church official to win freedom to marry who she desired. And so a lifetime of scheming, match-making, negotiation, and even outright bribery began as Olimpia did anything and everything possible to keep from being reigned in by others. A maverick of wit, beauty, politics, and finance, she rose to become the voice and mind behind the pope, and thus Mistress of the Vatican.
This book amused and amazed me. A woman long gone is our main character , but she is no person to be pushed deep into her century and forgotten. The author did a beautiful job of putting her into perspective, and I dearly loved the read!
I loved the way the author present tensed her, pulled her out the cobwebbed prejudiced past. I mean if she lived today you would have to say she did an incredible thing with a time of greed and vainglories....and at any step she could be pushed back as being a meddling just a little woman! I am on a soap box trying to sell you this book....but it is brilliantly written and I loved it!
I really enjoyed this. The author does insert perhaps a tad too much personal commentary for a history book, but her style is very readable so I'm willing to forgive those divagations. I particularly liked her portrayal of this ultimately very flawed woman. Given how few tools the period gave a woman to work with, the fact that she used them so effectively, as well as subverting some supposedly male-exclusive ones, is refreshing. It is depressingly unsurprising that she was subsequently demonised for behaving in a manner that would not have raised a single eyebrow had she been male.
I love history and a few years ago visited the two palaces in Rome where Olimpia called home. However, I never expected this to be such compelling reading. Ms. Herman's exhaustive research is illuminating rather than pedantic. You will learn a great deal about Ms. MIdalchini, the Byzantine politics of the Vatican and the complicated power plays in Europe. Olympia was a remarkable woman by any definition but quite extraordinary when one considers the chauvinistic attitudes of Baroque Europe. This book makes history come alive and is well with the reader's time.
Were it not for what I see as very good research and primary source analysis, this book would have received 1 star. The facts themselves are interesting, but the writing of this book reads like C+ 8th grade history report. The author resorts to the lowest denominator of writing to such an extent that, though I found the actual material fascinating, I had a terribly hard time finishing this book. Add to that the edition's editing problems it reports the dates of everything that the author says happened during the Roman Empire as having happened in the year 86 A.D, which, for a book purporting to be about history is egregious, to say the least.